Wednesday, 28 July 2010

Racism UK

I don't normally blog on politics, but I'm so frustrated and angry at what our Government is proposing with regards to immigration that I feel I have to speak out on this one.

In short, David Cameron is currently consulting on what level to set a non-EU migration cap above which workers - regardless of ability or skills - will be barred from entry to the country on the basis of their nationality.

The policy which is about to be implemented is nothing short of outright racism. It says that once the cap is reached, "you can't come to this country if you are not European". If you're Indian, Pakistani, Australian, American, Chinese, even if you're a highly-trained medical practitioner or scientist, you can't come in. Because you're from the wrong country.

Now, I appreciate that immigration can be a thorny issue when talking about sharing the UK's resources around its ever-growing population, and I would never argue for a free-for-all policy with wide-open borders, but it should be remembered that immigrant workers are also the ones who help run our hospitals, lead our scientific research, and even cook our curries for goodness sake. Similarly, many of us Brits become migrant workers when we head overseas to work or study. The head of my University department, a world-renowned scientist who pays his taxes to the UK Government, is Chinese and would have been barred from coming to this country if the arbitrary cap had been reached at his time of application.

In addition I strongly believe that rather than achieving the stated aim of reducing the malaise often shown towards the foreign cultures present in the UK by reducing their numbers, this policy will actually foster greater suspicions and racial tensions amongst communities as people view foreigners with an air of "are you even meant to be here? Hasn't this year's cap been reached?"

The best solution, as has already been shown in Australia and elsewhere, is to admit people based on their skills and what they can bring to the country's economy, NOT on the basis of the country printed on their passport. You'd rightly be appalled if a job was advertised based on nationality rather than skills, and the same should apply for entry to the country.

To be fair, the Tories always proposed this policy during the election campaign and yet nearly a third of the voting population fell for their racist policies dressed-up as "support for the indigenous population" (now where have we heard that before, Nick Griffin?), but now it comes with the full support of the "Liberal" Democrats too.

1 comment:

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